Gardening, flowers and veggies: 2015

[ok-kel]

Hi....Can I have hilling potato advice?
Haven't planted them before. They look great right now. Almost a foot high though.
Need to cover them right away.
I was looking for straw and can't find any...I would love ONE bale.
I don't want to use hay.
I don't have very much soil at all.
What else can I use other than ...some soil?
Dry small leaves from last fall?
Shredded paper?
Thanks for the ideas.

[JLives]

Straw works great but is very difficult to get hold of. I can't think of anywhere that has any right now. I keep a pile of plant clippings, newspaper and soil from previous season's planters as I empty them out near my garden. I'm going to use that pile to hill mine this year. So maybe go with a mix of soil, paper and leaves?

[Lady tehMa]

Have you tried Buckerfields? I understand they carry it . . .

[ok-kel]

Buckerfields is out until early September....

[Queen K]

Picked the first batch of fresh peas today.

[ok-kel]

Straw works great but is very difficult to get hold of. I can't think of anywhere that has any right now. I keep a pile of plant clippings, newspaper and soil from previous season's planters as I empty them out near my garden. I'm going to use that pile to hill mine this year. So maybe go with a mix of soil, paper and leaves?

Thank you JLives .... I never thought of using the soil from my old planters. I may have enough :)

[JLives]

This may be a bit over the top for the gardening thread but I know many of you will appreciate it.

[Bpeep]

I'll be picking my warba potatoes in a week or two.
As far as hilling potatoes goes, I'd only mound over them if it's mulch to help arrest evaporation or to keep sunlight off tubers.
Sunlight turns taters green, creating a compound called solanine. A small amount won't hurt you, but you can't live on it.
I prefer to grow potatoes with the least restrictions, you get bigger ones that way.
I grow mine in trash, grass clippings and the like.
I average over 3 pounds per square foot.
Growing in loose substrate allows me to start picking early varieties in June.
I just reach in, feel for the big ones and pick.
Doing so allows the small ones to mature quickly.
I pick all season, but don't dig them up till fall.
My rule is, if I can't reach in up to my elbow, it's too dense for potatoes.
I would advise against growing them in stacks of tires like some do.
In full sun, that can get pretty hot, and spuds stop growing when the soil hits 80f. You'll grow potatoes, but not to full potential.

[WeatherWoman]

This may be a bit over the top for the gardening thread but I know many of you will appreciate it.

We never had a slug problem until we planted cabbage.

[JLives]

Buckerfield's has the rest of their seed potatoes on for FREE.

[Bpeep]

First broccoli pickin today.

[Bpeep]

First big blueberry picking today on the older bushes.
The ones I put in this spring are doing great. Some flowered but I popped them off. I want them to spend their energy on roots and stems.
All this year's grape plantings except one are doing well- I suspected that one wouldn't make it but it went in the ground anyway.
I haven't put the drip system in for the grapes yet, I'm behind on everything it seems. I put some cascade and centennial hops in at the end of one row of pinot noir .
I'm picking warba potatoes like crazy. My indeterminate tomatoes are 3 feet high and the warmer nights have allowed lots of fruit set.
I can't count how many seedings of lettuce and radish I've done. As usual, I'll run out of seed before I run out of season.
I planted another patch of collards. I like collards, and have been eating them daily for a month or so now. I think I overdid it tho... There's lots, and I just grew them for me.
Corn is about 3 feet high. It'll get a little dose of nitrogen in the next day or so.
My peppers for the most part are fabulous. There's a couple dozen that are a bit behind, I didn't pot them on when they needed, and the worst thing you can do to peppers is inhibit their growth when they're young. That's why I prefer to start my own, and not buy the root bound ones at the nurseries.
The bell peppers are about 4 inches long so far. Should be picking the first ones in a couple weeks.
I always overdo cucumbers. They're like zucchini. You always have way too many, and you can't give hoards of cukes or zucchini away without looking like you're begging someone to take them.
I put my cukes in 5 gal pots this year, and run them just at the edge of the irrigation for the potatoes. I put 4 seeds per pot and pinched off the weakest two. Or, in some pots, the weakest one. Lol.
I split up all the pond lilies. Between them and the water hyacinth, the surface is almost completely covered. I'm sure the fish and tadpoles appreciate that.
I put in a huge patch of mathiola right outside the house. When they bloomed tonight I just had to sit for a bit and enjoy it, their aroma is intoxicating.
There's thousand of mathiola and petunia along the side of the house.
I started about 600 petunia and they're 2 feet long and in full bloom.
I'll never get enough of the aroma of the two flowers.
It sure beats shovelling snow.

[Queen K]

Yahhhhoooo, Bman, sounds fabulous there.

I'm about to go outdoors after being a way for 2 two weeks and pick my tayberries and raspberries.

Had lots of pleasant surprises in the garden after my first early am garden walk. It's not quite the jungle I envisioned but I made a concentrated effort to cut back stuff before leaving and it shows.

Heat is killing some greens but the Kale is LOVING it. First green smoothie in two weeks coming up!

Tomatoes need pruning. I've got to control some things gone to seed, poppies etc. Taters need topping up with soil.
What I thought was a zuke is a cuke. Nice! Because a zuke came up on its own and is doing really well.

Garlic is falling over, so it's harvest time in a few days. Two weeks early.

[Queen K]

Garden is getting beat up in this heat. Berries are drying out faster than we can keep up.

[Lady tehMa]

My garden is getting overgrown. I'm going to be press-ganging my teens into garden work - wish me luck!

BTW - while borage IS a fantastic plant for attracting pollinators (my garden is FULL of bees) it reseeds like crazy, and can take over quite easily.